What is interpreting?

Interpreting involves transferring the spoken word from one language into another. There are various styles of interpreting:

Simultaneous interpreting:

Speech is transmitted to a soundproof booth in which the interpreter instantaneously interprets it into another language. This modern method is now very popular at both large and small conferences.

Consecutive interpreting:

In this scenario the interpreter takes notes and gives the speech after the original speaker. This means that consecutive interpreting takes about twice as long as simultaneous interpreting because the speech is given twice, first by the speaker and then by the interpreter. For that reason consecutive interpreting is normally used for short addresses, after-dinner speeches and the like.

Ad-hoc or one-on-one interpreting:

Here speech is generally interpreted one sentence at a time, depending on what is required. This style of interpreting is particularly suited to company tours and trade fair visits. Users are advised to hire two interpreters for each language pair in this kind of set-up if longer speeches are being given, so as to maintain consistently high quality.